LeValley pleads guilty in embezzlement case

A local biologist has pleaded guilty to being part of a scheme to embezzle $1 million from the Yurok Tribe, using false invoices for wildlife studies on the northern spotted owl, according to the tribe's spokesman Matt Mais.

Mad River Biologists founder Ron LeValley was accused of taking part in an elaborate conspiracy using fake invoices, false purchase requests and electronic bank transfers to embezzle more than $870,000 in federal funds from the Yurok Tribe over several years. His alleged co-conspirator, former Yurok forestry director Roland Raymond, was sentenced to three years in prison in January.

LeValley pleaded guilty to a single conspiracy charge. He is due to be sentenced on May 20.

His plea was entered in the federal district court in San Francisco on Tuesday, but the agreement has not been made publicly available by the court.